Envelope machine



July 17, 1923.

E. NISSEN ENVELOPE MACHINE INVENTOR @yen e RN'zIszren.

July 17, 1923.

E. F. NISSEN ENVELOPE MACHINE Filed March 5. 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 v I NVENTO R Eayefle [.Nw

July 17, 1923. 1,461,827

E. F. mssEN I I ENVELOPE MACHINE Filed March 5. 1920 :5 Sheets-Sheet 5[N VENTOR v @yeneE/Wksen, BY t W Fatented July 17, 1923.

. man an sr EUGENE F. NISSEN, OF ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA.

ENVELOPE MACHINE.

Application filed March 3, 1920. 1 Serial 363,020.

To all wizom"t may concern."

Be it known that I, EUGENE F. Nrssnn,

a citizen of the United States, residing at- Alameda, in the county. ofAlameda and State of California, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Envelope Machines, of which the following is aspecifica-- tion. 1

This invention relate to an envelope machine and particularly pertainsto a ma,-

chine for applying fasteners thereto.

In the manufacture of safety envelopes it is desirable to applymechanical fasteners to the body of the envelopes which fasteners are sodesigned so as to engage the envelope flaps and hold them in a lockedposition. in order to insurethat the safety fasteners cannot be molestedand easily removed it is preferable that they can be arranged so thatthe envelope will be mutilated in a way to prevent the fastener frombeing re-applied and its removal thus concealed.

It i the principal object of the present invention to providea fastenermeeting these requirements and a machine which will operate to rapidlyand correctly apply the fastening elements so that the desired resultsmay be obtained.

The present invention contemplates the use of a fastening membercylindrical. in shape and formed with a plurality of radially extendingta-ngs arranged around its circumference as well as: other tangs struckfrom the body portion of said cylinder and adapted to be bent in anopposite dlIGClBlOI) from the radially extending tangs, said fastenersbeing applied by a manual or.

power operated machine which automatically feeds the fastening elementsto auxin. sorting nxember and thereafterholds the element while it isacted uponwby a crimping die to cause the tangs to be turned in theintended directions and the fastener thus securely attached to thefabric.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation showing the complete machine.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation showing the machine as indicated inFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in plan illustrating theadjustable table upon which the envelopes'are supported.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view in vertical section and elevationillustrating the feed and crimping mechanism.

Fig. 5 isa fragmentary view in section and elevation through the feedmechanism as seen on the line 55 of Fig. 41.

Fig. 6 is'a view in vertical section through the feed mechanism as seenon the line 6-6 I of Fig. 4:.

Fig. 7 is a view in plan illustrating the i fastening element to beapplied and indicating by dotted lines the position of the radial tangsafter the fastening operation has been completed.

Fig. 8 is anenlarged View in section through the fastening element asseen on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

In .the drawings, 10 indicates a pedestal formed with a suitable baseportion 11. The upper end of thispedestal is secured to a horn 12 whichextends forwardly inhorizontalplane and carries the fastener feed andcrimping mechanism.

This horn is formed at its end with a vertical bearing 13 through whicha die plunger 141 is slidably mounted. The upper end of this plunger ispivotally secured by a pin 15 to a die lever 16. This lever issupportedby a bracket 17 extending upwardly from the end of the horn andcarrying a fulcrum pin 18. the lever extends upwardly and rearwardly aconsiderable distance and is provided with a dependent connecting rod 19at its free end. This connecting rod is pivotally secured to anauxiliary lever 20 which is mounted on a pivot 21 of the pedestal. Anoperating rod 22 is secured to the lever 20 at a point between its endsand this rod is seeuredto a foot lever 23. The foot lever extendsthrough a slot at the bottom of the pedestal and is formed at itsforward end 1 25 is mounted. This bolt engages abracket 26. The footlever 23 is normally held in its uppermost position by means of ahelical spring 27 secured by its upper end to the As shown in Fig. 2

pedestal and by its lower end to the lever.

Itwill thus be evident that downward pressure upon the foot plane 24:will produce a very forceful downward pressure upon the die plungerlaand act to apply a fastener 28 to a piece of fabric. or paper.

The formation of the fastener is particularly shown in Figs. 7 and 8 inwhich it will 7, and the 'tangs 31 inwardly to be folded oyerupon thepanel'and parallel to the body portion of the'fastener. a

The fasteners are carried in a hopper 33 which extend's'fverticallyalong'the side of the bearing 13. The hopperis formed by parallelguide'rods e and 35 and backand front guides 36 and 37. The fastenersare stacked in the hopper, and'are fedfr'om the bottom thereof by feedmechanism hereinafter described. The front and backguide members 36 and8 7 have central longitudinally extending grooves 38 into which the endsof the fastening elements 32 project and bywliich -thefasteners aremaintained in their stacked position.

By reference to Fig. 5' it will be seen that the groove 38 of the backplate is not directly formed in the plate itself butin a verticallysliding member 39 carried in a longitudinal guide channel of the backplate.

This vertically slidingmember is held in its lowermost position by thetension of a spring lO and may be raised at the time the lowerinostfastener is removed from the stack.

in'a horizontal plane and in alignment with the" path of travel assumedthe fastener reciprocated and oscillated.

.{lhe hopper stands in parallel longitudinal andyertical alignment'withthe die plunger 14 and its lower end is so arranged. that a fasteningelement may be directly transferred from the bottom of the hopper to apositi'on 'below the bottom of this plunger 14. -Thi.s' is accomplishedby, means of an ejecting member 41 which is slidably mounted betweenguide pla't'es 42 and 43 extending in moving from the hopper to thehammer. The ejecting member'is formed in its outer end with a handle 42by which it may be The opposite end of the ejector is formed with adiskshaped seat 43 agreeing in diameter with the circular body portionof the fastener.

This seat projects up from the plate of the ejector and'as shown in Fig.5 has parallel slots lain its face. These slo'ts 'are provided toaccommodate the downwardly 'eXtending central tangs 81 and when'thetangs encounter the shoulders 45 at the ends of the slots the fastenerswill be fed from beneath the stack to a position beneath the dieplunger, after ,which downward pressure upon the handle 42 will eleyatethe seat 43 c'arrying a fastener and press it into a cylindrical cup tfithrough which the lower end of the plunger 14: operates. Theoppositesides of this cup have recesses 47 to accommodate the projecting ends ofthe fastening elements32, it being intended that the downwardly benttangs 30 will frictionally engage the sides of the cup and' permit'theejector to be removed and withdrawnto its original position-beneaththestack.

Operating in conjunction with the'ejector 'is a filler plate 618 for thestack. This plate is adapted to be projected beneath the stack directlyafter the carryingseat 43' has .moved toward the hammer with one of thethe withdrawal ofthe plate permittingth'is portion 39 to fall to thefloor 50 and complete the back wall of the hopper. I

The filler plate 48is not carried directly upon the ejecting member 41but is'slidably attached thereto andcarried byfa sliding plate 51. Thisplate is formed with a cen tral longitudinally extending slot opened atits rear end thus provicling parallel fin- J gers which extend intogrooves, in the opposite sidesof a block 53..,which block is a part ofthe ejector 41. The length of the slot in the plate 51. is considerablygreater than, the length' ofthe block sliding therealong, thuspermitting a variation in movement between the ejecting member and theslidingplate. ment of the sliding plate is limited by the reason of itsstriking the back plate 36 which will permit the ejector mechanisintocontinue to move forwardly" until the block 53 strikes the closed end ofthe slot in the plate. Retraction of the sliding plate 51 is produced bya pin 54. carried by the ejector and movingalong a slot in the slidingplate. Due to the construction ;the plate will main stationary while theejector is re tracted to a point where thepin 5 1-; will strike the rearend of the slot 55, at which time the force will overcome the frictionalengagement of a retarding, member 56 which has been overhanging the endof the slide plate and which is yi'eldably held by a flat spring57.

The fasteners are adapted to be secured to the "body panel of anenvelope and. their fasteningielemen ts '32 to project. through aneyelet of the envelope. This action is produced by the downward movementof the The forward .moyi'clit) plunger 14 in combination with an anvilblock 58. The anvil block is in vertical alignment with the plunger andis supported by a secondary horn 59, thus projecting into the openedmouth of an envelope as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. Theanvil block is designed to turn the central tangs inwardly and fold themagainst the paper while the tangs 30 are turned outwardly and foldedagainst the paper.

In order that the fasteners will be applied to the envelope in a uniformmanner an adjustable table 60 is mounted beneath the horns and supportedby rails 61. These rails extend along parallel guid channels 62 carriedby an enlarged supporting flange 63 at the top of thepedestal. v Therails are slotted so that they may be moved horizontally and thereafterlocked by setscrews (54. The table structure is permanently fixed to theouter ends of the rails and comprises a horizontal plate 65 havingparallel slots These slots receive adjusting bolts 67 by which spaceblocks 68- may be adjusted and locked. It is intended that the spaceblocks shall be set so as to form a guide for the opposite sides of theenvelop and center it upon the horn 59, at the same time determining theexact position to be occupied by the fastener by means of an end rail 79secured throughout the length of the plate 65 and against which the endof the en velope rests.

Tn operation of the present invention the hopper is filled withfasteners which are positioned with the fastening elements 32 extendinginto the guide slots 38 of the front and back plates. When it isintended to apply one of thefasteners, an envelope is mounted over thehorn as indicated at dotted lines in Fig. 2 after which the ejector ismoved horizontally in the direction indicated by the arrow a' in Fig. 4.The seat 453 will carry the lowermost fastener from beneath the stack offasteners in the hopper as the tangs 31 of this fastener ex-- tend intogrooves 44 on the seat and encounter the shoulders at the ends thereof.The ejector plate 41 willinove forwardly alone until curved end()TflillQ-WVBEH. plate 4-9 strikes the sliding back member and elevatesthe same after which the filler pl ate 48 willmove beneath the staclraudthe fastener will be disposed directly beneath the cup 47. The handle 42is then swung downwardly as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4 and thefastener will thus he elevated to take aseat within the cup. The seatmember is then lowered to leave the fastener frictionally engaged by thecup. ibis seat and the ejector plate are then retracted toward theiroriginal position. The first part of the retracting movement will notmove the plate 51 but when. the pin 54 reaches the end of slot 55further retraction of the plate by the handle will cause the fillerplate 48 to be withdrawn from beneath the stack and the seat member tooccupy its original position. I In swinging the ejeetor it will be notedthat a fulcrum pin 71 extends across the gu de and provides point oyerwhich theejector plate 41 may roclrf Upward increment of the ejectorplunger 14 and its cup 46 downwardly. The,

cup is held in its lowermost position by an EXPELDSlOD spring 72 actingagainst a cross pin 73 whch extends through a slot in the plunger and islined to the opposite sides of the cup. As the downward movement takesplace the lower face of the cup will press against the panel of theenvelope as limited by the anvil block 58. The plungerwill continue tomove downwardly driving the.

downwardly extending tangs 30 and 31 of the fastener through the sheetof material and causing themto be bent, the tangs 3O outwardly and thetangs 31 inwardly The cup 46 also assists in properly flattening out thetangs 30 after having been bent due to a shoulder 74 striking the upperface of the cup. l Vhen the foot lever is released the springs 27willrestore the lever mechanism to its original position and the plungerto its uppermost position. This will also perinit the spring 72' toforce downwardly and hold the cup in the position shown in Fig. I WhileI have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, itwill be understood that various changes in the combination, constructionand arrangement of parts maybe made by those skilled in the art Withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is:

1. A device of the character described comprising an anvil, a plungerassociated therewith. a cup member on said plunger, a magazine adaptedto contain fasteners, an ejector adapted to be reciprocated to re movethe lowermost fastener in the ma azine the anvil, and thereafter to beoscillated to place the fiislm'iw within the cup on the plunger,

2. In a device of the character described, a reciprocating plunger, ananvil therebeneath, a magazine along side thereof and carrying aplurality of fasteners, a reciproeating and oscillating ejector adaptedto remove the lowermost fastener from the stack and interpose it betweenthe anvil. and the plunger, a cup circumscribing the lower end of theplunger and within which the fastener may be frictionally seated by theare delivered and afeed member adapted to be reciprocated to remove thelowermost fas,- tener from the magazine, carry it to a point beneath thecup and thereafter be oscillated to force the removed fastener intofrictional engagement with the cup aii upward movement.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a magazineadapted to receive a stack of fasteners, a receiving cup to which theyare delivered, a feed mechanism adapted to remove the lowermost fastenerfrom the stack, carry it to a point beneath the cup and thereafter forceit up into frictional engagement with the cup, and a follower plateadapted to move beneath the stack of fasteners in the absence of thecarrying element.

5. A setting device for fasteners having a pair of diametdcally oppositetangs extending from the periphery of the fastener and a pair ofdownwardly extending tangs pro jecting from the body of the fastenercomprising setting devices, a feeding mechanism for feeding fasteners tothe setting devices including a vertical hopper into which the fastenersare stacked, the opposite sides of said hopper having grooves into whichthe tangs of the fasteners project, an ejector at the bottom of saidhopper adapted to be engaged' by the downwar ly projecting tangs of thelowermost fastener, operating means for moving the ejector and theengaged fastener from beneath the stacl: of fasteners in the hopper, acup on said setting devices for receiving the fastener, and meanswhereby the ejector may be oscillated to place the fastener carriedthereby within the cup. v I I 6. In a feed mechanism for fasteningelements,'a hopper having side guide posts and front and back guidewalls, the front wall being formed with an opening through which "thelowermost fastener within the hopper may be passed, a movable section inthe back wall adapted to he vertically reciprocated, an ejector normallybeneath the stack of faste'nings within the hopperiand adapted to carryout the lowermost ifastener through the opening inthe front wall andafiller plate adapted to raise the movable part' of the back wall and toassume stack of faste i which the lowermost fastener within the hoppermay be passed, a movable section in the back wall adapted to bevertically reciprocated, an ejector normal y beneath the p within thehopper and adapted to carry out the lowermost fastener through theopening in the front wall and a filler plate adapted to raise themovable part of the back wa l and to assume the position beneath thestack originally occupied by the e ector, and means whereby said ejectormay be oscillated after having carried a fastener from the hopper. I 8.In a crevice of the character described, in combination with an anviland an anvil having a fastener receiving cup. of a hopper containingfasteners, and a manually operated ejector adapted to be reciprocated toremove a fastener from the hopper and in terpose it between the anviland the plunger and thereafter to be oscillated to force the fastenerinto frictional engagement with the receiving cup on the plunger. I

9. In combination with an anvil and plunger having a receiving cup, of ahopper adapted to contain fasteners, a manually operated ejector adaptedto be reciprocated to remove the lowermost fastener in the hopper andinterpose it between the anvil and the plunger and thereafter beoscillated to force the fastener into frictional engagement with saidcup, and means for; supporting the fasteners within the hopper when theejector is in operation. I t

10. A device of the character described comprising an anvil, aplungeradapted to ice 0 aerate therea 'ainst a member coo )eratin I l3 7D with the plunger and adapted to releasably support a. fastener in aposition where it may be acted upon by the plunger, a magazine adaptedto contain fasteners, and an ejector adapted to be. reciprocated toremove fastener from the magazine and carry it to a point adjacent saidmember and thereafter be oscillated to place the removed fastener intoreleasable engagement with saidmember.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

' EUGENE F. NISSEN; Witnesses W. I/V. I'IEALEY, M, E. EWING.

